UPDATE 3-Deals of the day -- mergers and acquisitions

                                
 (Adds Pulte, Volkswagen, Escada, Forsys, Morse, Opel, NewStar,
updates Lloyds, Porsche)
                                
 Aug 19 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers,
acquisitions and disposals involving European, U.S. and Asian
companies were reported by 2000 GMT on Wednesday.
                                
 ** General Motors [GM.UL] board of directors will discuss
on Friday the sale of its European business Opel, for which
both Magna <MGa.TO> and RHJ <RHJI.BR> are in the hunt, several
sources close to the deal said. [ID:nLJ668680]
                                
 ** Germany could initially provide 4.5 billion euros ($6.35
billion) in aid for carmaker Opel, and a recommendation on who
should buy the firm could be made by General Motors on Friday,
a senior German official said. [ID: nLJ168234]
                                
 ** Qatar paid Porsche <PSHG_p.DE> hardly more than half the
current market price for shares in Volkswagen <VOWG.DE> in a
multi-billion euro deal announced last week, several people
familiar with the matter said on Wednesday [ID:nLJ169867]
                                
 ** Lloyds Banking Group <LLOY.L>, Britain's largest retail
bank, said it was reviewing a decision to close all branches of
its Cheltenham & Gloucester unit, surprising employees and
investors. [ID:nLJ727660]
                                
 ** Chinatrust <2891.TW>, Taiwan's top credit card issuer,
will likely pull out of a bid for AIG's <AIG.N> Taiwan
insurance unit as its partner, Bain Capital, wants to pull off
the race, a source close to the company said. [ID:nTP44614]
                                
 ** HSBC Holdings Plc <0005.HK> <HSBA.L>, Europe's biggest
bank, is in advanced talks with China's Industrial Securities
Co to form an investment banking venture as early as this year,
Hong Kong's Apple Daily reported, citing sources it did not
identify. [ID:nSHA94528]
                                
 **Shareholders of Pulte Homes Inc <PHM.N> and Centex Corp
<CTX.N> approved the merger of their companies by wide margins,
paving the way for the creation of the No. 1 U.S. home builder
to overtake D.R. Horton Inc <DHI.N>. [ID:nN18431444]
                                
 ** Canada is not likely to block Nortel Networks'
<NRTLQ.PK> planned $1.13 billion sale of wireless assets to
Sweden's Ericsson <ERICb.ST>, the Globe and Mail reported on
its website. [ID:nBNG506160]
                                
 **Forsys Metals Corp <FSY.TO> said Canada's government has
apparently halted the planned acquisition of the company by
privately held holding company George Forrest International
Afrique, sending Forsys shares down by 17 percent.[ID :
nN19340785]
                                
 ** The Czech Republic said it would continue with the sale
of state-owned Czech Airlines (CSA) with only a single bidder
after Air France-KLM <AIRF.PA> withdrew from the
process.[ID:nLJ537397]
                                
 ** Japanese trading firm Itochu <8001.T> is in talks with
KKR [KKR.UL] to form a joint bid for Citigroup Inc's <C.N>
Bellsystem24, in what might be the largest private equity deal
in Japan this year, sources said. [ID:nHKG137481]
                                
 **German carmaker Volkswagen and Dutch investment company
Fleet Investments BV won European Union regulatory approval to
acquire joint control of Dutch car leasing firm LeasePlan
Corporation NV. [ID: nN18431444]
                                
 ** Low-cost Malaysian carrier AirAsia's <AIRA.KL> long-haul
unit is in talks with Middle Eastern investors, its chief
executive said, as it seeks fresh capital to help fund a
potential expansion into Europe and Africa. [ID:nLJ640142]